Philippine May Day protesters demand wage hikes amid surging rice prices

MANILA, Philippines - Thousands of Philippine workers marched in scorching heat Thursday in May Day protests demanding President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's resignation for not raising the minimum wage to help them cope with surging food and fuel prices.

Arroyo announced she had signed an order granting a 10 percent salary increase for about 1.4 million government workers starting in July but left it to regional wage boards to discuss possible minimum wage hikes for privately employed laborers.

Watched by riot police, two major groups of workers marched separately across Manila, waving red flags and placards, and then held noisy rallies at a downtown Manila square where musical bands and singers delighted the crowd.

About 3,000 members of the left-wing New Patriotic Alliance marched with red umbrellas marked "125 Now," referring to their demand for an immediate 125 peso (US$3; €1.93) increase in the daily minimum wage.

Workers can no longer cope with inflation, the group said.

"Every day, people are becoming more restless with the failures of the regime," said alliance leader Carol Araullo. "It's a social volcano waiting to erupt."

Some of about 4,000 marchers from another group, the Alliance of Progressive Labor, carried Arroyo's portrait labeled "Exit Now." Joshua Mata, a leader of the group, said workers were suffering from high unemployment and skyrocketing food prices under Arroyo's rule.

"This is an administration that has zero credibility, zero legitimacy, zero concern for the plight of the working class," said Rep. Risa Hontiveros, who joined the protest.

The Philippines, the world's largest rice importer, has been struggling to deal with a 10 percent shortfall this year. It failed to buy all the grain it sought in an April tender despite agreeing to pay 62 percent more than at a similar tender just a month earlier.

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